Academic papers of the Redefor Program: the production of
knowledge about special and inclusive education
Trabalhos acadêmicos do Programa Redefor: a produção de conhecimento sobre educação especial e inclusiva
Adriana Aparecida Lima Terçariol,*1 Danielle Aparecida do Nascimento dos Santos,*2
Raquel Rosan Cristino Gitahy,*3 Elisa Tomoe Moriya Schlünzen**4 *Universidade do Oeste Paulista, Unoeste, Presidente Prudente-SP, Brazil
**Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, UNESP, Presidente Prudente-SP, Brazil
Abstract:
The São Paulo Network Program of Teacher Training (RedeFor) of the Secretary of Edu-cation of São Paulo State /Brazil, has proposed in partnership with the São Paulo State University, the continuing education for teachers of the State public school system, through specialization courses, about Inclusive and Special Education, in the distance learning mo-dality. In order to meet an audience of 1.600 teachers, seven courses were implemented from 2014 to 2015, amongst which is the course of Special Education, with a total workload of 444 hours spread between activities in the Virtual Learning Environment of UNESP, internships, In-Person Meetings as well as preparation and presentation of scientific pa-pers. After the completion of disciplines and In-Person Meetings, in 2015 were created 55 groups for the guidance of academic papers, where each supervisor had to perform the on-line pedagogical mediation of 10 to 20 course participants for the preparation of a scientific paper. It is intended to discuss in this article the aspects present in two scientific papers developed within the course, which addressed the discussion about the beginning teachers and curriculum for the development of Special Education within the Inclusive perspective. The results demonstrate that this specialization course brought important elements to the axis of participant’s reflections, so that Special Education can really be strengthened in an inclusive perspective, in the public schools of São Paulo.
Keywords: Academic papers. Teacher training. Special and inclusive education.
Resumo
O programa Rede São Paulo de Formação Docente (Redefor) da Secretaria de Educação do Estado de São Paulo/Brasil propôs, em parceria com a Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), a formação continuada de professores da rede pública estadual de ensino, em cursos de especialização nas áreas da Educação Inclusiva e Especial, na modalidade a dis-tância. Para atender a um público de 1.600 professores, foram executados de 2014 a 2015 sete cursos, entre os quais se encontra o curso de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva, com carga horária total de 444 horas distribuídas entre atividades no Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem da UNESP, estágios, Encontros Presenciais, bem como elaboração e apresentação de Trabalhos Acadêmicos (TA). Após a finalização das discipli-nas e Encontros Presenciais, em 2015 foram criadas 55 turmas para orientação dos TA, em 1 Professor in the Masters Education Program at Unoeste. E-mail: atercariol@gmail.com
2 Professor in the Masters Education Program at Unoeste. E-mail: danielle@unoeste.br 3 Professor in the Masters Education Program at Unoeste. E-mail: raquel@unoeste.br
4 Professor of the Department of Statistics at the Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT) at Unesp. Full Professor of Teacher Education for an Inclusive School. E-mail: elisa@fct.unesp.br.
que cada orientador deveria realizar a mediação pedagógica on-line de 10 a 20 cursistas para a elaboração de um artigo científico. Pretende-se neste artigo discutir sobre os aspec-tos presentes em dois artigos científicos desenvolvidos no âmbito do curso, que abordaram a discussão sobre professores iniciantes e currículo para o desenvolvimento da Educação Especial na perspectiva Inclusiva. Os resultados demonstram que o curso de especialização trouxe para o eixo de reflexão dos cursistas elementos importantes para que a Educação Especial possa realmente se fortalecer em uma perspectiva inclusiva, nas escolas públicas do Estado de São Paulo.
Palavras-chave: Trabalhos acadêmicos. Formação de professores. Educação especial e
inclusiva.
Contextualization: The process of preparing the articles
The issue of school inclusion and Special Education in an inclusive perspective has been a great challenge for researchers and educators in the Brazilian context. This training experience began in February 2014, through the cooperation agree-ment n. 9365/0400/2012, signed in 2013 by the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) in conjunction with the Secretary of Education of the State of São Paulo (known as SEE-SP).
Since the signing, was initiated the preparation of seven specialization courses, using blended learning in an accessible format, through the São Paulo Network Program of Teacher Training (known as Redefor). It started from the partnership between the SEE-SP, School for Training and Improvement of Teachers of São Paulo State “Paulo Renato Costa Souza” (EFAP), Pro-rectory of Post-Graduation (Propg) of Unesp and, Center for Distance Education (NEaD) of Unesp.
Among the seven courses of the Redefor program “Special and Inclusive Edu-cation”, six have been proposed in the field of Special Education, each with about 100 vacancies provided for: Hearing Impairment/Deafness, Physical Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities, Visual Impairment, Global Developmental Delay, and High Abilities/Gifted. Another course, with differentiated training profile, had as guid-ing axis the work done in the common class and offered 1,000 vacancies.
The previously mentioned course of Special Education in the perspective of In-clusive Education had as target-audience teachers and managers of the State Public Network, who wished to improve their practices in order to provide an education more inclusive.
In an internal survey of SEE-SP in 2011, there were more than 17,000 teachers, who were interested, demonstrating the need to conduct a continuing and in-ser-vice training, in the field of Special and Inclusive Education. Based on this demand, the SEE-SP requested the idealization of these courses.
For the development of the training proposal it was elaborated a dynamic quite complex and systemic, considering that the courses are running since 2013, count-ing with a large team of professionals. It comprises tutorcount-ing work online and on-site, internship conception and preparation of the academic paper, in addition to activities developed by technical team and materials produced, all in a format ac-cessible and configurable.
The academic papers were a result of the Research Methodology discipline, which was developed in three different moments in the course of Special Education, in the perspective of Inclusive Education. The intention was to bring elements to change their way of looking regarding the principles and practices of Inclusive Education, through a posture change and acceptance that we are all different and have speci-ficities.
Inclusive Education brings as implication a necessary change in the traditional teaching approaches, as well as changes in school, in the pedagogical work and, more importantly, with regard to teacher training, who must become mediators of knowledge and seek ways to act aiming to change the current scenario of Brazilian education.
To act in this perspective and consolidate the training process proposed were cre-ated 55 groups of Academic Paper, where each tutor had to carry out the online pedagogical mediation of 10 to 20 students for the elaboration of a scientific article. The scientific articles that have resulted from the course were divided into 3 the-matic axis: Theme 1: Inclusive Practices, Theme 2: School Management and Theme 3: Technologies.
Based on the different themes developed, it was decided to present the results of two studies inherent to Theme 1: Inclusive Practices, whose aspects will be de-scribed next.5
Research 1: Beginning Teachers and Inclusive Education
The study entitled “Estratégias de ensino para professores iniciantes com base
nos princípios da educação inclusiva” (Teaching Strategies for beginning teachers
based on the principles of inclusive education) was held within the framework of the specialization course in Special Education in the Inclusive perspective at the Redefor Program.
The aim was to discuss, through the teachers’ eyes, both beginners and those with more years of experience, the need for expansion of practical orientations on the theme of Inclusive Education. The public policies reveal the urgency to create in the professionals who are already working in public state schools, a sensitive look at the needs of students, regardless of their physical, sensory, motor, intellectual, emotional or social characteristics.
Throughout history and especially in the last 20 years, the discourse and practice of Inclusive Education have been incorporated in the initial and continuing teacher training, through policies and clarification on Special Education and Inclusive Ed-ucation. Nonetheless, unfortunately, this discourse and practice have remained, in many school settings, more as an ideal than a reality.
Although the movement toward the development of more inclusive practices has taken more shape in recent years, many schools remain with the discourse of
hav-5 It is worth highlighting that the investigations described were linked to the research entitled “Rede de Educação Inclu-siva: Formação de Professores nos âmbitos de Pesquisa, Ensino e Extensão”, approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research (CAAE), of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT), UNESP, campus of Presidente Prudente, SP, under No. 26341614.3.0000.5402, whose report No. 173,558 is dated 07 December 2012.
ing difficulties to include students and to make efforts so everyone may learn, alleg-ing issues such as time, salary, resources and other.
Hence there is the need to answer the question of “how”, encouraging in school agents, especially in teachers of common classes, a sensible look to see the real need of Students Target Audience of Special Education (known as EPAEE - children with disabilities, Global Developmental Delay and High Abilities /Gifted). These students have to be attended and inserted in the context of the common class, hav-ing the right to belong and not to be left out of strategies created within the school. The current demand of the society of information and knowledge indicates that is essential to reflect on what we believe, what we teach, how we teach, why we teach and to whom we teach. The beliefs and values are still influencing our learners re-garding who “should”, or not, belong to a particular group or other, who “is suitable” or who should be excluded.
Considering these perspectives and in view of all theoretical and practical mate-rial which was consulted throughout the course, especially in disciplines with prac-tical nature as: “Democratic Management and Pedagogical Project” and “PEI and Collaborative Teaching”, it was developed a research in the school context, seeking to identify the needs, especially of beginning teachers, in relation to the concept of inclusion.
Inclusion is a fundamental philosophy about how we perceive and respond to hu-man differences. The reason why a person has particular beliefs is highly related to their life experiences. Therefore, the article aimed to explicit the data gathered from specific teachers, bringing ideas that inspire reflection on the meaning of human difference, as well as new ways of thinking the thematic of Inclusive Education.
For this reason, we seek to identify ways of humanizing the look of the common class teacher about the student target-audience of special education. It is worth mentioning that the inspiration for this thematic was generated in daily school life, in the routine of public state school, from conversations with teachers who face con-ceptual difficulties in understanding the principles of Inclusive Education and the conceptions generated during the Redefor post-graduation course.
Teachers, when choosing the teaching profession, cannot imagine the difficulties that they will find along the way. It is natural, in the face of so many novelties, that the novice teacher feels an overload during the first years, due to many obstacles going from low remuneration to overcrowded classrooms and lack of working con-ditions. During the route, we have realized that the initial training has some flaws, since it does not offer access to many of the elements, which make up the school institution.
It is also possible that the novice teacher ask himself about issues that were not addressed in the initial training, such as management of traffic (oversee the arrival and departure of students), bureaucratic skills (collection, analysis and storage of data, documents relating to Special Education, filling of diaries, computer systems that reproduce themselves day after day, proficiency in the use of photocopiers and multimedia equipment), and human resources (collaborate with colleagues, relate with parents, grandparents and carers, cultivate cordial relationships with school secretaries, school janitors, inspectors, cooks).
According to Valle and Connor (2014), to teach is really a complex act, which re-quires constant alternation between sets of multiple and simultaneous skills - not all liable to be taught in teacher training institutions.
All these aspects inherent to the profession are linked, day by day, to elaboration of teaching plans, lesson plans, organization of learning situations, establishment of routines, and attendance to external evaluations, among others, which have ped-agogical nature. Reflecting carefully on these demands about Inclusive Education has effective implications for the practice in the classroom, modifying aspects such as self-control, self-assessment, and development of the curriculum, among others.
At this historical, political and social moment where is inserted the public state education, proposing a training in the specialization level to more than 2,000 teachers, it is necessary to think about how the teacher’s role is played and the con-sequences of this role, which has to be reimagined.
In the face of these assumptions, the study developed in the context of the re-search methodology discipline was built from a methodological trajectory marked by data collection in the context of the school, aiming to interpret perspectives and visions of beginning teachers.
It was attempted within the research topic, to accomplish it in a qualitative ap-proach. The qualitative research, according to Minayo (2011), comprises a set of factors where the senses complement each other: experience, livingness, common sense and action.
In this regard, the research development within the context of Redefor Inclusive Education was guided by the proposal that we could apply in the practice, from the livingness in internships of practical disciplines, the concepts that were being con-figured over training.
The research was conducted in three school units of the state network, located in the municipality of São Paulo (capital), in neighbourhoods characterized as periph-ery. The neighbourhoods are close, but directed by different educational board.
The instrument used for data collection was a mixed questionnaire, with open and closed questions. The pre-test was made in one of the school units, specifically in the unit where one of the authors teaches. The participants showed interest in knowing the research theme and anticipate themselves saying that they did not know much about Special Education.
Initially there were difficulties regarding the opinion about which students were considered as target-audience of Special Education. After the pre-test, one question was eliminated since it was redundant, and the last question was reformulated, making it more clear and precise. Even so, the question caused some doubts, be-cause it required of participants to reflect on their opinion regarding the character-ization of students target-audience of Special Education.
The questionnaire showed how beginning teachers have still been waiting for medical reports to start any kind of pedagogical intervention with EPAEE. Regard-less of age and how long they are working in the Public School Network of São Paulo, which varies from 5 to 34 years, all participants showed insecurity when asked to identify a EPAEE and build teaching strategies, considering the specificities of the student.
This demonstrates that the initial training obtained in the licensure course still gives inadequate guidance for the work in the inclusive perspective. For this reason, we can notice the importance of continuing training and, of initiatives such as the Redefor Inclusive Education, which has proposed to train teachers in-service and, in their work context.
In addition, one of the factors that still influences in the lack of interest for a con-tinuing training is the extensive amount of working hours that many professionals face, which reinforces the importance of the Redefor initiative, which does not have the feature of generating overload to the teaching work.
Another issue identified is that the theme of Inclusive Education can and should be discussed at the meetings of Hours of Collective Pedagogical Work (known as HTPC), but it is rarely discussed, as attested by the participants. Despite this, part of them is attending or has already finished a second undergraduate course, demon-strating that they are in search of new knowledge regarding this and other themes. The questionnaire data have shown that there are many opposing opinions about the inclusion of persons with disabilities, considering the still persistent absence of these persons in sectors of society. The teachers reported that they know only few individuals with disabilities.
However, if on one hand some teachers are waiting for the medical report and the accompanying of health professionals to start any differentiated work in the class-room, on the other hand the laws and resolutions guarantee the right of access and permanence of these students in school.
Despite the fact that the process of acceptance of differences does not occur exclu-sively by laws and decrees, these mechanisms are very important to contribute with the process of school inclusion of EPAEE.
It is necessary, therefore, to create training mechanisms so that the inclusion pro-posal can have meaning for the teachers, transforming relations already solidified by point-of-views, opinions and even pre-concepts established based on unfavour-able everyday experiences.
Research 2: Development of the Curriculum for Inclusive Education
The survey entitled “Currículo adaptado: currículo oficial da rede estadual de
São Paulo e possibilidades de adaptação” (Adapted Curriculum: official
curricu-lum of the public schools of São Paulo State and adaptation possibilities) was held from the assumption that there is a great diversity among the students that today attend the schools of the public state network.
Therefore, we need to be careful to foster and make the curriculum more flexi-ble, adapting it, as a way to attend all students without distinction, especially those who have special educational needs, from the existence of certain disabilities, syn-dromes and other conditions that differentiate the demands of some learners in relation to others.
Such conditions require our attention, in order to make viable not only the access to school, which extrapolates the enrolment, allowing also the permanence and ac-cess to learning, to knowledge and to set of curricular experiences developed daily
in educational institutions, in order to move towards the consolidation of an inclu-sive culture in these institutions.
Experiences in the teaching supervision of high schools in the state network of São Paulo revealed the existence of schools with several situations of inclusion, whose teachers and managers presented great difficulty in dealing with students who need a Specialized Educational Service (known as AEE), which might impair the process of teaching and learning.
The curriculum can be understood as a basic tool of schooling and if adaptation possibilities are exercised, it is materialized as a tool to support the school inclu-sion. In this sense, it is also necessary that the managers, among them the Teaching Supervision, appropriate the principles and strategies of the practice of curricu-lar adaptation, since first it is needed to have knowledge domain about theories and practices that enable the best pedagogical intervention to meet the diversity, to then, be able to guide and monitor the work satisfactorily.
Another extremely important point relates to the continuous training of educa-tion professionals, especially teachers, so that the discriminatory practices might cease to exist seeking to overcome exclusion and accomplish inclusion. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the subject, raise prior knowledge, strengthen the ed-ucators, multiply the knowledge, develop skills and train teachers and managers in order to promote a responsible school inclusion.
Thereby, the studies about Curriculum Adaptation seek to assist the teaching practice and the exercise of school management, proposing alternatives in the de-velopment of content, in the evaluation process and in the organization of pedagog-ical didactic work to promote the student learning at the public state network of São Paulo, starting from its official curriculum.
The research universe was a school of the public state network of São Paulo, lo-cated in a city with about 60 thousand inhabitants, school that attends only high school students, being those from the regular modality, with age range of 15 to 19 years on average. In the modality of Youth and Adult Education (known as EJA), with age range from 19 to 50 years on average and belonging to the Teaching Board of east Campinas, there are approximately 1,000 students divided into 27 groups. In this context, we identified 13 students included in regular teaching classes, which demonstrably need the AEE.
Participated in the research 20% of the educators that are active in the education-al institution, toteducation-alling ten teachers and three managers, who work in the three pe-riods when the school is functioning. The educators reside in the school municipal-ity and in two other neighbouring municipalities. The age range of the participants is from 25 to 60 years. The participants are mostly of the female sex, have marital status described as “married” and have postsecondary education.
The instruments used for data collection consisted in a questionnaire for data col-lection about the institution and employees, with open and closed questions and an observation script about the practices carried out. The selected instruments passed through a pre-test with a member of the management team, a member of the ad-ministrative team and a teacher, professionals who have not taken part of the final research. The age range of the people who participated in the pre-test is from 40 to 60 years. There was no need to adapt any question.
The questionnaire, as mentioned, was organized with open and closed questions, encompassing: type of assistance provided by the school, partnerships and finan-cial/pedagogic support or other received, number of students of the unity and of EPAEE attended in general and in groups, which were the deficiencies presented, period of attendance, age range, which individuals are benefited, identification of institution professionals and support team, training of professionals, difficulties to provide assistance, qualitative aspects to be recognized, barriers regarding the cur-riculum, knowledge about adapting curricula, collaborative work, use of Assistive Technology (AT).
The analysis from the data obtained through the questionnaire leads us essential-ly to three aspects considered extremeessential-ly relevant:
1. Characterization of the school institution and information of which ones the teachers have knowledge
The questionnaires were made aiming to collect data about the information that teachers and managers of the unit have about the institution and the assistance available to EPAEE. We wanted to get, as well, indications about the teacher’s inter-action with their reality and to know about their performance.
One aspect that the questionnaire included is about whom the team has identified as their partner and/or collaborators in the pedagogical work. The data obtained are shown in Charts 01 and 02.
Chart 01: Indication of partnerships and pedagogical support that the school maintains.
When analysing the charts 01 and 02, we observed that most participants are un-aware, or did not consider as partners, in the pedagogical work, the school board, the Higher Education Institutions and the Municipal Teaching Network. Regarding the regional Center of specialized pedagogical support (known as CAPE), body that supports the process of school inclusion of EPAEE, all participants, teachers and managers responded that they were not aware of it.
We have detected that the support team – Supervisors, Teachers, Coordinators of the Pedagogical Centers (known the PCNP) and specialist teachers – is not known or identified by most participants. We realize, therefore, that the school is walking without support in regional actions of special education, in the existing processes of continuing training, as well as is unaware of how to provide resources, in other words, it works without guidelines and the minimum necessary referrals.
Likewise, we can consider that the school does not seek or ensures AEE (Resource Rooms, Classes conducted by specialized teachers, Itinerant Attendance), and thus, the losses accumulate in the teaching process of those students who need this assis-tance. We understand that the continuing education process of teachers is impaired when is not recognized nor sought, to relate with higher education institutions, fail-ing to create opportunities to renew the pedagogical practice with the support of academic researches.
A second aspect identified refers to the knowledge of teachers and managers re-garding the financial support that the unit receives (Chart 03), resources that are used to keep themselves and which may be of great support for the development of a diversified work, which needs extra resources of pedagogical support as, for ex-ample, the acquisition of resources of Assistive Technology.
Chart 03: Indication of the financial support that the school receives.
Looking at the data presented in Chart 03, we realized that a great part of par-ticipants is unaware of the financial support that the school receives and of the available resources at their disposal for the work with Special Education. Appar-ently, the school team is unaware also of the support to the inclusion process and plans for the adaptation of school buildings, implemented by the Foundation for the Development of Education (FDE), with the goal of providing physical accessibility to EPAEE.
This scenario leads us to believe that it has not yet been possible to consolidate a relation of partnership between the school and its members. That is why the data unveil that it is necessary to invest more in the democratic and participatory man-agement, share data, without, of course, forget that it is up to all professionals the transparency and active participation in the application of resources for inclusive purposes.
Another aspect to be highlighted in the research data was the lack of knowledge of many of the teachers regarding the number of EPAEE attended at the school unit, as shown in Chart 04.
Chart 04: Number of EPAEE attended at the unity
The graph demonstrates that more than 05 teachers, among the sample partici-pants, simply do not know the real amount of EPAEE attended in the context of the school unit.
It was verified also that a large part of the team overestimates the work of the spe-cialist professor in special education, non-existent at the school, belittling the role of training for the common class teacher for the work with inclusion. Teachers also highlight the item “number of students in class” as a complicating factor, among other aspects, as shown in Chart 05.
Based on information of Chart 05, was observed that, among the teachers who responded the questionnaire, approximately 50% believe that it is not possible to attend the EPAEE at school due to the lack of specialist teachers or, resource rooms. Another significant percentage, of over 20%, considered that there is a lack of re-sources and materials to attend these students. Other difficulties cited included difficulties with family support and pre-requisites for dealing with the EPAEE.
In summary, the research brings to light a great challenge of training to be faced: in addition of learning how to adapt the curriculum and the teaching procedures, firstly it is necessary to learn to see the skills of students, and not only their limita-tions. Initial teacher training still has prioritized studies on disabilities and their specificities, which leads them to value more the training of the specialist in special education than the training of the common teacher.
Not that the existence of the AEE should be underestimated, in any way, but the AEE is an additional resource to complement the work and the teacher training. Therefore, if we believe that the success of working with EPAEE is due solely to the existence and work of a support service or a specialist, we will not have inclusive practices in our schools.
2. Positioning of managers and educators regarding the attendance of students in need of AEE:
– treat the inclusion as something that might happen, not recognizing that such students are already part of the group/ school community, being therefore, rights holders like everyone else;
– recognize the right of school enrolment, but criticise, saying that there are no conditions of attendance;
– recognize shortcomings and gaps in attendance and, teaching process;
– do not recognize themselves as jointly responsible of the services offered by school.
– recognize that give access and conditions for the permanence is enough to at-tend the student;
– recognize that inclusion is simply offering a vacancy;
– recognize only the socialization as something that the school can offer;
– reported that there are a respectful treatment by the school, on a daily basis, affirming that there is no prejudice toward these students at school;
– respond from their positioning and not as described in official documents; – place the responsibility on others for the lack of teacher training;
– do not have theoretical training regarding curriculum adaptation and barriers to the development of the curriculum;
– do not know in depth the principles of the official curriculum, especially when it comes to the teaching supported by skills and abilities.
– understand curricular adaptation as an act of suppressing content; – few admit gaps in their training;
3. How the team perceives the relationship of students among themselves (cooperation, tolerance and respect)
– recognize as a positive aspect, among the group of students, the existing climate of friendship and harmonious coexistence;
– reported to note that among students there is respect to the EPAEE; – admire the posture of students of helping each other mutually.
The aspects related in the items 2 and 3 started from open questions (available in the questionnaire applied), where participants were able to express themselves openly about what they thought and knew about the themes addressed.
In addition to the data obtained through the questionnaire, it was also built per-ceptions from the observation work conducted in different spaces, among them: the classroom, the schoolyard, the working space of managers and class moments of collective pedagogical work (known as ATPC). From these observations, we have highlighted some aspects that have caught our attention:
3.1 – The Classroom
– little was observed regarding the development of didactic sequences, an orga-nizational modality classified as a good learning situation proposed on the Teacher Book (support material to the Official Curriculum of the teaching network of São Paulo State). However it is observed the use of textbooks of the National Program of Textbook (known as PNLD), with little space for differentiated activities and with-out conjunction with the curriculum;
– in the work of teachers it is not evident the concern with the development of skills and competencies, much less with an individual and referential teaching plan of the curriculum evaluation, focusing on skills development, which could enable the effective participation of EPAEE;
– in classes, in which there is EPAEE visually impaired, it is observed only the use of notebooks or enlarged copies of textbook pages, not being verified the use of other types of TA.
– the EPAEE with intellectual disability, behave as copyists due to the lack of par-ticipation opportunities and activities, where they could develop their skills;
– in the classrooms observed there are students with hearing disabilities who do not have yet the support of an interpreter of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras);
– it is noted lack of planning in a few lessons; there are domain of knowledge on the part of teachers, but lack contextualization; the teaching methodology does not use techniques that foster learning. It was noted that most of the classes are expos-itory, with the teacher doing monologues, leaving little room for the protagonist participation of the student, leaving for him only the possibility to listen, copy, read and do exercises; differentiated strategies are not used, much less with the EPAEE;
– is not observed, in most lessons, the educational presence of professor, or at-tention/attendance given individually to students; teachers do not seem to know the student as a whole, treating him, many times, with pity, for having a disability;
– the relationship among students is good, some assume the role of “caregivers” of the colleagues with disabilities, giving explanations to try to help them.
3.2 – School’s yard and workspace of managers
– it is a place of healthy conviviality among students who take turns in helping EPAEE with visual and physical disabilities;
– were not observed prejudiced actions by the students.
– reduced and inadequate space for studies, to file literary works and, for private conversations;
– it was noted also that managers are responsible for many tasks at the same time, meeting the needs of all and lacking of time to think about how the school “includes”, if there is this concern in their Political Pedagogical Project and the achievement of an action plan, thinking in the teaching and learning process of EPAEE.
3.3 – ATPC
– there are rare moments of training, sometimes without the continuity of sub-jects, we have noted that there is not a training plan, so the themes are chosen, according with the moment and needs;
– we observed that some teachers are resistant and stuck to outdated ideas, with-out much disposition to continuous self-development, always blaming the state gov-ernment for problems and difficulties encountered;
– are lacking moments or dynamics that motivate teachers to feel co-responsible for the teaching and learning process of EPAEE;
– the agenda is not the formative;
– the space itself is not propitious, the refectory is used to perform the meetings due to the realization timing, as there are no empty classrooms or a specific room available;
– there is a certain fear on the coordination part to develop certain issues with teachers, as the theme “curricular adaptation”, justifying that teachers are not pre-pared to discuss this matter.
Analysing the results detailed in the research, we realized that, in general, in the group there is not a defined concept for curricular adaptation nor the occurrence in pedagogical practice, since to adapt, first you need to analyse, plan, study, dwell on the curriculum as well as get to know the EPAEE as a whole.
Curricular adaptation can be defined as a set of modifications that are carried out in the objectives, contents, criteria and procedures of assessment, activities and methodologies to meet individual needs and differences. Therefore, curricular ad-aptation is not an individual process but a collective one, hence the importance of conducting collective studies and analysis, in ATPC.
Accomplish curricular adaptation is not work with different activities, much less suppress or mischaracterize the content, instead, first is necessary to know the cur-riculum and understand its nuances and joints. If the practice is to suppress con-tent, is stolen the right of the student to learn.
The teacher’s focus should not be the content to be developed, but the amount of skills that potentially the student can develop, which must be preserved when working with the proposed contents. A learning situation coherent with the inclu-sion proposition works with the same skill required in the activity/sequence for the class, being the teacher, the one responsible to define and demarcate skill catego-ries.
Therefore, we have to observe if certain competence and ability has been already developed by the student, and if the work is not ratified by skills and abilities and, if there is not a continuous study about the skills that have to be developed by all, per class, by grade, per student, respecting the rhythms, temporality and, learning styles, we will not give the EPAEE the possibility to learn.
The skills reflect the associations between content and competences, working as descriptors of what the student must demonstrate as performance and allow the reflexion if there was learning indeed and at what level it occurred.
To study the curriculum, understand its principles and analyse the learning situa-tions proposed in the support notebooks of teachers, render the adaptation possible and real. Moreover, is necessary that the team, as a whole, knows the students, considers the school as a learning place for all; elaborates plans of individual care and has clarity of what is needed for everyone to learn and, which abilities are es-sential, based on proposals of the official curriculum so that are clear the didactic interventions to be carried out.
Conclusions: what was revealed by the researches developed in the course of
Inclusive Education
From the statements that were present in the researches described, we can ob-serve beneficial aspects of the training offered. It can be seen that there was mean-ing attribution to contents; use of technology resources and accessibility for the resolution of practice problems; debugging and reflective abstraction; construction of an inclusive culture and application of the concepts in a context and expansion of the aspects of practice.
Thus, to act at the deepest levels of reflexive teachers training, should be consid-ered the assumptions of Perrenoud (2002), that certain mechanisms present in the formation may foster the awareness and transformation of practices, such as the reflective practice, changes in representations and practices, mutual observation and meta-communication with the students, in the cases presented. All of it guided by pedagogical mediation, writing, life story, simulation and role-play (context and practice), experimentation and experience.
Furthermore, according to Hernández and Ventura (1998), the pedagogical di-alog, the research and criticism as attitude, favour the formation process. From the development of academic works, focused on the real needs present in everyday life of these professionals, it could be inferred relevant issues about what might be undertaken as foundations of Special Education in an inclusive perspective in the State of São Paulo.
In a first aspect, is revealed that beginning teachers, in general, need better mon-itoring of the pedagogical work developed in the school reality, once, immersed in school practice, they require a deep understanding about the specific needs of students. In this sense, strategies such as mentoring and support of experienced teachers, in addition to the accomplishment of a continuous education based on the actuation context of these beginning teachers, may be important to understand the school inclusion principles and how the EPAEE can be included in the classrooms under their responsibility.
In a second aspect, it is observed that within the school context there is much ignorance of the teaching and management team on how to operationalize simple actions to understand the processes inherent to EPAEE and their specificities. The HTPC or ATPC should become moments when discussions on these specificities can be made, beyond what managers can propose case studies so that the school staff can think collectively about the strategies, resources and simple or more com-plex solutions to be undertaken.
Furthermore, based on the Political Pedagogical Project of school and the un-derstanding of concepts that must be achieved at each teaching level, curricular adaptation strategies can also be discussed by school team and management team in the ATPC and HTPC. They may, for example, draft the Individualized Teaching Plan and on the basis of this instrument consider what types of adaptations can be made in terms of strategies, resources and assessment, especially for students with intellectual disabilities or others, which compromise their comprehension of the curriculum contents.
In this sense, the production of knowledge about Special and Inclusive Educa-tion discussed in these studies revealed that both initial and continuous training of teachers, require programs of initiation to teaching or mentoring. According with the research of Marcato (2016), only one teacher is not able, alone, of supporting the development of the required knowledge to make effective the inclusion.
The Redefor Program was designed with the intention and idea of contributing to train teachers within their context, and offer them elements so they have pos-sibilities to build their own history. Our expectation is that these more than 1,000 researches conducted, based on the work context of each researcher who graduated over the courses, as well as more than 700 researches conducted in the course of Special Education in the perspective of Inclusive Education allow such teachers to become auxiliaries of initiation to teaching, as well as mentors of teachers who are in the midst of their pedagogical journey, but still need support regarding clarifi-cation and positioning on what should be configured in Inclusive Educlarifi-cation in our state and country.
References
HERNÁNDEZ, F.; VENTURA, M. A organização do currículo por projetos de trabalho: o conhecimento é um caleidoscópio. Porto Alegre: Artmed, 1998.
MARCATO, D. C. B. S. Reflexões de professores iniciantes e experientes sobre a iniciação à docência
e inclusão escolar. 2016. 163 f. Tese (Doutorado em Educação). Universidade Estadual Paulista, Presidente
Prudente/SP, 2016.
MINAYO, M. C. S. Análise qualitativa: teoria, passos e fidedignidade. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, São Paulo, 03, 17, 621-626, 2011.
PERRENOUD, P. A prática reflexiva no ofício do professor: profissionalização e razão pedagógica. Porto Alegre: Artmed, 2002.
VALLE, J. W.; CONNOR, D. J. Ressignificando a deficiência: da abordagem social às práticas inclusivas na escola. Porto Alegre: AMGH, 2014, 240 p.
